District title on the line

The baseball season in Vermilion Parish is starting its final descent into the playoffs.
For most teams like, North Vermilion, Erath and Vermilion Catholic, they are locked into the playoffs, it’s just a matter of what seed they will be.
For other teams like Delcambre and Kaplan, they need to have a strong week to make sure they stay in the playoff race.
The biggest games of the week are going to be the Erath vs. North Vermilion series, that begins tonight.
The Erath Bobcats are on a hot streak right now.
They have won 11 straight baseball games, turning their 5-9 record into a 16-9 record.
The Bobcats are ranked 13th in the power rankings, and have steadily risen daily.
Now, they find themselves on the verge of winning the district 6-3A title.
“We are glad to be playing for a district title, especially this late in the season,” Erath Head Coach David Jordan said. “We are real excited about this week. Especially since we were 5-9 and then won 11 straight. This entire week is going to be a playoff atmosphere, and it’s what high school baseball is all about.”
The only thing standing in their way is the North Vermilion Patriots, who they will play twice this week.
These two schools will square off this afternoon at North Vermilion, and then turn right around and play again on Thursday at Erath.
“They (Erath) are a good team,” North Vermilion Head Coach Jeremy Trahan said. “He is going to have his team ready to play, and we know that we are going to have to continue playing at the level we have been.
North Vermilion is currently ranked fourth in the Class 3A power rankings.
The Patriots are going to be throwing their ace, Donald Comeaux, in this afternoon’s game.
Comeaux is leading the Patriots in most pitching categories.
He has a perfect 7-0 record with a crazy low .87 earned run average.
He is also second on the pitching staff in strikeouts with 55, behind Ryan Meaux who has 57.
Comeaux is also tied with Ryan Thompson with 25 RBIs, to lead the team.
Whoever wins both of those games will be the district 6-3A champion, but if they split the games, they will split the title.
Both Erath and North Vermilion have a perfect 6-0 district record, and it is fitting that they play each other in the last week of the season for the district title.
Elsewhere around the parish, a couple of teams are just hoping for a strong week to stay in the playoff race.
The Delcambre Panthers have two district games this week. Tonight they will square off against Jeanerette, and on Thursday they will face off against Opelousas Catholic.
They are currently ranked 29th in the Class 2A power rankings.
The Kaplan Pirates are going to need a strong showing this week if they want to stay in the playoffs.
As it stands the Pirates are ranked 32, which is the last spot of the playoffs. They will play Notre Dame twice this week, once tonight at Kaplan, and then on Thursday in Crowley.
Then on Friday they will play their last game against Cecilia in Cecilia.
The Vermilion Catholic Eagles are ranked fifth in the Class 1A standings, and are just trying to find a rhythm heading into the playoffs.
They will travel to Hanson on Thursday, and then will play a makeup game at Gueydan at noon.
They will then host AES on Saturday.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor